


Ridge Christmas

by RedStarFiction



Category: Outlander, Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:07:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8953114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedStarFiction/pseuds/RedStarFiction





	

Jamie tentatively opened the door to the master bedroom and stepped into the hallway, listening. The noise which had woken him had come from downstairs but there was none of the usual sounds that would indicate intruders in the house.   
He made his way down the stairs, bare feet instinctively searching out the surest spots, avoiding known creaks, his dirk held loose but ready at his side.  
“Stop grabbing! Let me pass ye the ribbon…”

“I dinna want the green one!”

“I’m using the red ye canna …”

Jamie let out his breath and tipped his head back again the wall, smiling. Jem and Mandy. The bairns were no doubt rooting around under the tree for their gifts. Claire and Brianna had wrapped the presents in brightly coloured handkerchiefs and such the night before and Bree had warned them that the children would likely be up and investigating before they were supposed to.

Jamie poked his head around the door and his heart clenched at the sight of his grandchildren, sat together on the hearth rug, heads bowed together over some task. Jem’s hair glinted red in the light of the single candle they had lit, whilst Mandy’s curls exploded in a riot, not yet brushed and restrained for the day.  
Jamie opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, allowing himself a wee moment to be thankful for what he had, but also to indulge in an imagination of what may have been had life panned out differently for he and Claire. 

A wee lad who looked just like him and a wee lass with Claire’s forceful way about her … they might have followed the birth of their Brianna.   
A home with a tree brought in each year, strange to be sure but a custom he would have gladly embraced for Claire and his bairns, a wee gift to make them smile nestled beneath it for each of them.  
All the years they could have had if only … Jamie shook his head. For to think on it further would tarnish what was right before his eyes now: two healthy, happy bairns who he could help raise and love and his wife and child asleep upstairs in his house … for years that had been the stuff of his imagination and he was grateful, so very grateful for his life now.

“Mandy! Stop … Oh!”  
Jem looked up at his grandfather wide eyed and instantly looking rather guilty.   
“Grandda, it’s no’ what it looks like …”

“It looks like ye and yer sister are sneaking a peak at gifts intended for the morning…”  
Jamie smiled, stepping into the room.

Mandy leapt to her feet at the same time and hurried over to him, her brow furrowed   
“No! Go away please Grandda. Ye canna come in.”  
She scolded, hands on hips. 

“Oh! Can I no then, wee miss?”  
Jamie cocked an eyebrow at her in a way which would have made her brother or cousins rethink their strategy instantly but Mandy, his wee Claire as Jamie privately thought of her, only gazed up at him impassively and shook her head

“No, ye canna.”

“It’s a surprise Grandda. We’re not sneaking a look at our gifts from Santa, I promise.”  
Jem added, striving for more diplomacy than his sister.

“A surprise for whom?”  
Jamie couldn’t see whatever it was they had been working on but a glance assured him that the gifts already under the tree had indeed not moved.

“For you and Grannie, now go back to bed … please.”  
Mandy said, patting his leg in a comforting way. Jamie smiled indulgently at her and nodded.

“Aye alright a leannan, but see that ye leave those presents alone, ken?”

“We will!”  
Mandy nodded happily, gently pushing at the leg she had patted. Bestowing a hasty kiss on her curls Jamie left his grandchildren to their ministrations.  
*

The next morning, amongst the general hubbub of Christmas excitement, Jamie and Claire were presented with a package wrapped in burlap and tied with several different ribbons, all jumbled together in a looping, curling mass.

“What’s this?”  
Claire beamed, taking the package from Mandy and placing a kiss on Jem’s cheek as he hovered by her chair.

“It’s from us to you and Grandda.”  
He smiled shyly and ducked his head

“That’s a kind thought laddie.”

“It was my thought too Grandda!”  
Mandy informed him indignantly, giggling as she was swept up onto her grandfather’s lap. 

“And a verra kind thought it was too!”  
Jamie growled, tickling her tummy before settling her on his knee.

“May I open it?”  
Claire asked Jem who nodded again, unusually bashful. Claire unwrapped it with exaggerated care, pulling gently at each ribbon in turn.

“Oh!”  
The breath left her in a soft gasp as the burlap came away revealing a beautifully drawn portrait of her, sat beside Jamie on the bench outside their home. The artist had drawn them close together, Claire’s head resting lightly on Jamie’s shoulder and his eyes down cast to look at her, their hands clasped between them. It was a very good likeness and a lovely sentiment of a moment shared.

The drawing was showcased in a frame of twigs and dried flowers, no doubt foraged from the area around their home. 

“Jem, this is wonderful! Did you draw this?”

“I drew some of it, Mam helped me finish the rest and the tricky bits.”

“I picked the flowers!”  
Mandy pointed at the frame and Jamie nodded gravely

“Ye chose verra well lass.”  
The lifting his gaze to Jem he smiled  
“I didna ken ye had inherited your mother’s gift for art. Ye’ve done a fine job Jeremiah, wi’ your permission we’ll hang the piece in the hall so that all guests may see it.”

The tips of Jem’s ears glowed faintly pink with the praise but he tried not to look too pleased with himself. At nearly eleven Jem was trying for a touch of stoicism in his attitude to such things. 

“Of course. Thank you Grandda.”

“Thank you Jem.”


End file.
